Steam wand deep-clean
Applies to: daily deep-clean of the steam wand, beyond the purge-and-wipe done after every drink.
Target: 5 minutes at close.
- Have a dedicated steam-wand milk-cleaner ready.
- Use a pitcher kept only for wand soaking, not for milk.
- Have a clean cloth and a pin or wand-tip key for the holes.
- Purge the wand and wipe it down first to remove surface milk.
- Mix the milk-cleaner solution in the soaking pitcher.
- Roughly 30 ml of cleaner to 500 ml warm water — follow the product label.
- Submerge the wand tip in the solution and pulse steam briefly to draw solution up inside.
- A short steam burst then off — do not boil the pitcher over.
- Leave the tip soaking for the label's contact time (commonly a few minutes).
- Purge the wand firmly to flush the solution, then wipe dry.
- Purge until the steam runs clear and no cleaner remains inside.
- Clear the steam holes with the pin if any are blocked.
- All steam holes are open and the wand steams in a strong, even pattern.
- No milk film or sour smell on the wand.
- The wand is purged clear of cleaner before the next drink.
The after-every-drink purge-and-wipe is the primary hygiene control; this soak is the daily deep-clean that removes what wiping cannot. Milk cleaner is not interchangeable with espresso backflush powder.